The leaders of London’s councils unanimously passed a resolution calling both the Government and the NHS to account for the funding difficulties faced by the capital’s health service. Concerns were raised at the London Councils’ leaders’ committee – made up of the leaders of London’s 33 local authorities – about the funding difficulties faced by Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in the capital.

Many vulnerable elderly people will be condemned to “isolation and dependency” if the government does not provide extra funds for care, campaigners say.

{mosimage}Eight groups, including Help the Aged, Age Concern and the King’s Fund, have sent a joint letter to Chancellor Gordon Brown about future spending. They expressed concern social care will get a poor settlement in next year’s spending review.

The Treasury said their comments would be taken into consideration. The elderly social care currently gets just over £10bn a year – about a sixth of the NHS budget. But unlike the health service it has not been getting bumper increases – it has received between 2% and 3% compared to over 7% in real terms for the NHS over recent years.

The letter does not set out exactly what social care should get, but earlier this year a review by former NatWest chief Derek Wanless warned the budget would have to increase to £24bn by 2026 just to keep up with the ageing population.

The charities concerned warned a much larger increase would be needed if a more “ambitious” service was to be provided. 

The social worker fired over the horrific death of Victoria Climbié avoided jail yesterday after pleading guilty to a prolonged campaign of harassment against her neighbour.

{mosimage}The two-year tirade of abuse included Lisa Arthurworrey falsely accusing Michelle Summer of being involved in a paedophile ring.

Arthurworrey was also accused of verbally abusing her, deliberately playing loud music and writing abusive letters. Arthurworrey also claimed that her neighbour’s daughter reminded her of Victoria. It left her neighbour feeling “sickened and appalled”.

Arthurworrey, who was sacked by Haringey council for failing to spot systematic abuse of the eight-year old before her murder at the hands of her great aunt and her boyfriend six years ago, had admitted sending a succession of abusive letters.

Today Enfield magistrates heard that the 37-year old’s harassment campaign against Ms Summer had led to her having nightmares and becoming depressed and felt that she had been violated as a result of Arthurworrey’s behaviour.

Arthurworrey was ordered to pay £200 costs and £250 compensation, and was given a conditional discharge for two years. She had been facing up to six months in jail.

Her appearance before Enfield magistrates followed a dispute with a couple living beneath her flat in Winchmore Hill, between December last year and May. It culminated in her arrest.

Sentencing, the judge said: “For this fairly unpleasant situation that you have brought about, I am giving you a conditional discharge for two years and a restraining order of three years, prohibiting you from putting correspondence of any sort through Miss Summer’s letterbox.

Women and young girls are being offered the chance to stock up on ‘morning after’ pills at £10 a time by Britain’s leading abortion provider. The charity BPAS says keeping the pills at home will stop more women from getting pregnant after unprotected sex, despite studies showing advance supplies do not reduce the abortion rate.

Prostitutes in Ipswich are being given money by police and drug workers to stop them risking their lives by touting for business on the streets, it emerged yesterday.

A cabinet-level policy review was told yesterday that Labour must end the current “soulless” discussion of child poverty and make its eradication the galvanising feature of the party’s fourth term.

Convicted prisoners could be allowed to vote in UK elections for the first time under proposals outlined by the government. Ministers have begun public consultation on the plans, which could see some categories of offenders voting while in jail, despite government opposition to such a move.

The number of people with the severe liver disease hepatitis C in England has soared, latest figures show. Data from the Health Protection Agency shows the number newly diagnosed in 2005 was 7,580, up from 2,116 in 2004.

Tony Blair has said the NHS is the “pride of the country” amid criticism of mismanagement and a huge deficit. Tory leader David Cameron said an MPs’ report said many financial problems were due to constantly changing priorities and poor central management.
{mosimage}He said the prime minister was a “lame duck” and the government could not address the problems until he resigned. But Mr Blair replied that after years of cutbacks under the Tories the NHS was getting better under Labour.

The Commons health select committee reported on Wednesday that mismanagement at all levels of the NHS in England had led to a deficit last year of £547m. The committee said local financial mismanagement was a factor – but found existing deficits were made worse by the cost of new staff pay deals and the expense of meeting NHS targets.

Mr Cameron told MPs: “The prime minister stands here week after week saying that local cuts are the fault of local health staff, but this report shows it is poor central management.”

More people are receiving help to live independently in their own homes, with fewer admitted to local authority-funded residential care, according to statistics released last month by the Information Centre for health and social care (IC).